Did you think the story that St. Valentine, before his execution left a note for the jailor's daughter signed as, 'from your Valentine' to be true? Interestingly there is no historical evidence supporting the fact. In fact numerous early Christian martyrs were named Valentine. From the historical facts, you get to know there were at least 3 St. Valentine's martyred on February 14 & none of them were very popular before their martyr. Especially, that none of them had any romantic connections.

But then, History is always boring. Let's get to the interesting stuff, the LEGENDS!

Legend 1 : Roman Empire

Valentine's Day started in the time of the Roman Empire. In ancient
Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno. Juno was the Queen of
the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess
of women and marriage. The following day, February 15th, began the
Feast of Lupercalia.

The lives of young boys and girls were strictly separate. However, one
of the customs of the young people was name drawing. On the eve of the
festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of
paper and placed into jars. Each young man would draw a girl's name
from the jar and would then be partners for the duration of the festival
with the girl whom he chose. Sometimes the pairing of the children
lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would
later marry.

Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II Rome was involved in many bloody
and unpopular campaigns. Claudius the Cruel was having a difficult time
getting soldiers to join his military leagues. He believed that the
reason was that roman men did not want to leave their loves or families.
As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome.
The good Saint Valentine was a priest at Rome in the days of Claudius
II. He and Saint Marius aided the Christian martyrs and secretly
married couples, and for this kind deed Saint Valentine was apprehended
and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten
to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. He suffered martyrdom
on the 14th day of February, about the year 270. At that time it was
the custom in Rome, a very ancient custom, indeed, to celebrate in the
month of February the Lupercalia, feasts in honour of a heathen god. On
these occasions, amidst a variety of pagan ceremonies, the names of
young women were placed in a box, from which they were drawn by the men
as chance directed.

The pastors of the early Christian Church in Rome endeavoured to do away
with the pagan element in these feasts by substituting the names of
saints for those of maidens. And as the Lupercalia began about the
middle of February, the pastors appear to have chosen Saint Valentine's
Day for the celebration of this new feaSt. So it seems that the custom
of young men choosing maidens for valentines, or saints as patrons for
the coming year, arose in this way.

Legend 2 : Story of Saint Valentine

Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during
the third century. That was long, long ago! At that time, Rome was
ruled by an emperor named Claudius. I didn't like Emperor Claudius, and
I wasn't the only one! A lot of people shared my feelings.
Claudius wanted to have a big army. He expected men to volunteer to
join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars. They did not want
to leave their wives and families. As you might have guessed, not many
men signed up. This made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a
crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not
mind joining the army. So Claudius decided not to allow any more
marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. I thought it
was preposterous! I certainly wasn't going to support that law!
Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favourite activities was to
marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on
performing marriage ceremonies -- secretly, of course. It was really
quite exciting. Imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and
groom and myself. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening
all the while for the steps of soldiers.
One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the
couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught. (Not quite as
light on my feet as I used to be, I guess.) I was thrown in jail and
told that my punishment was death.
I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things
happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw
flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they,
too, believed in love.
One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her
father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and
talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I
did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the
secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little
note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, "Love
from your Valentine."
I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on
Valentine's Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269
A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember. But most
importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think
of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of
love, and they laugh -- because they know that love can't be beaten!

Valentine Traditions :

Valentine Traditions

Hundreds of years ago in England, many children dressed up as adults on
Valentine's Day. They went singing from home to home. One verse they
sang was:

Good morning to you, valentine;
Curl your locks as I do mine ---
Two before and three behind.
Good morning to you, valentine.

Since Ancient Roman times, it has been a custom for the men to give a beautiful piece of jewelry to their Valentine on St. Valentine's Day.

In Wales wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on February
14th. Hearts, keys and keyholes were favourite decorations on the
spoons. The decoration meant, "You unlock my heart!"

In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see
who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their
sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that
it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.

In some countries, a young woman may receive a gift of clothing from a
young man. If she keeps the gift, it means she will marry him.

Some people used to believe that if a woman saw a robin flying overhead
on Valentine's Day, it meant she would marry a sailor. If she saw a
sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a
goldfinch, she would marry a millionaire.

A love seat is a wide chair. It was first made to seat one woman and
her wide dress. Later, the love seat or courting seat had two sections,
often in an S-shape. In this way, a couple could sit together -- but
not too closely!

Think of five or six names of boys or girls you might marry, As you
twist the stem of an apple, recite the names until the stem comes off.
You will marry the person whose name you were saying when the stem fell
off.

Pick a dandelion that has gone to seed. Take a deep breath and blow
the seeds into the wind. Count the seeds that remain on the stem. That
is the number of children you will have.

If you cut an apple in half and count how many seeds are inside, you will also know how many children you will have.

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